4&20 blackbirds

Two Stories Involving Guns

Two stories related to guns caught my attention today. First there’s the 80 year old man who shot a woman in the back after her and an accomplice tried burglarizing his home:

Police said Thursday they’re deciding whether to arrest an 80-year-old man who shot a fleeing, unarmed burglar despite her telling him she was pregnant, but they have arrested the woman’s accomplice on suspicion of murder for taking part in a crime that led to her death.

The homeowner, Tom Greer, was cooperating with investigators, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference. But the chief wouldn’t say whether charges will be recommended when they turn over their case to prosecutors Friday.

He said Andrea Miller, 28, was not visibly pregnant but an autopsy would provide the answer.

Greer told KNBC-TV he shot Miller twice in the back as she ran away.

“She says, ‘Don’t shoot me, I’m pregnant – I’m going to have a baby,’ and I shot her anyway,” Greer said in the interview Wednesday.

The other story is sure to make the guns everywhere crowd ecstatic because it involves a mentally ill man who had his gun rampage cut short by a psychiatrist who had a concealed gun permit and used his weapon to stop the man before he could kill more people:

The patient who opened fire on a caseworker and psychiatrist at a unit of Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital intended to kill the doctor and possibly others – and might have succeeded if the psychiatrist had not pulled his own gun, authorities said Friday.

Richard Plotts was carrying a loaded revolver and 39 bullets when he arrived for his appointment Thursday afternoon, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Plotts got off enough shots to kill caseworker Theresa Hunt and wound psychiatrist Lee Silverman before the doctor drew his own weapon and shot Plotts three times.

“If Dr. Silverman did not have the firearm and did not utilize the firearm, he’d be dead today,” Whelan said. “And other people would be dead.”

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The NRA has successfully worked to keep guns in the hands of crazy people. Here’s a few paragraphs from the story you cite:

(The killer) Plotts had at least once before expressed anger at not being allowed to bring a gun inside the hospital.

The prosecutor did not elaborate.

As a felon, Plotts was prohibited from owning a weapon; police say they believe he got it outside Delaware County.

Plotts’ criminal record dated at least to 1990, when he was arrested in Philadelphia and sentenced to probation for carrying an unlicensed gun. The following year, he was again arrested with an illegal gun and got probation.

He later was sentenced to 80 months in federal prison for robbing a Delaware bank, and twice violated terms of his release, records show.

Michael Chitwood, the Upper Darby police superintendent, said Plotts had a history of suicide attempts, and was involuntarily committed in 2007 and 2013. Plotts was also banned from Upper Darby’s homeless shelter for violence, Chitwood said.

“Here is the tragedy of what we see in our society,” Chitwood said. “You’ve got mental illness combined with a propensity for violence and easy access to firearms.”

Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said one of his officers recalled responding to the wellness center for an incident involving Plotts, though he did not know the details.

Plotts was known as a troublemaker to hospital staff, said an employee who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

your non-PC terminology aside, the issue here is the action of the psychiatrist. though he was legally carrying a concealed weapon, the facility where he worked didn’t know and doesn’t formally condone staff carrying weapons.

personally, I have mixed feelings about this particular story. I also anticipate this psychiatrist will be elevated by the guns everywhere crowd to a gun-toting hero. so far he isn’t talking to the media.